The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. The band consisted of vocalist Morrissey, guitarist Johnny Marr, bassist Andy Rourke and drummer Mike Joyce. Critics have called them the most important alternative rock band to emerge from the British independent music scene of the 1980s. Q magazine’s Simon Goddard argued in 2007 that the Smiths were "the one truly vital voice of the ’80s", "the most influential British guitar group of the decade" and the "first indie outsiders to achieve mainstream success on their own terms". The NME named the Smiths the "most influential artist ever" in a 2002 poll, over the Beatles.

Based on the songwriting partnership of Morrissey and Marr, the group signed to the independent record label Rough Trade Records, on which they released four studio albums, The Smiths (1984), Meat Is Murder (1985), The Queen Is Dead (1986) and Strangeways, Here We Come (1987). Four of their albums (including three studio albums) appeared on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. They have also released several compilations, and numerous non-album singles. The Smiths had several singles reach the UK top 20 and all four of their studio albums reached the UK top 5, including one which hit #1. They won a significant following and remain cult favourites, although they had limited commercial success outside the UK while they were still together. The band broke up in 1987 due to internal tensions and have turned down several offers to reunite.

The band’s focus on a guitar, bass, and drum sound, and their fusion of 1960s rock and post-punk, were a repudiation of synthesiser-based contemporary dance-pop – the style popular in the 1980s. Marr’s guitar work, using a Rickenbacker, often had a jangle pop sound reminiscent of Roger McGuinn of the Byrds, and influenced later Manchester bands including the Stone Roses and Oasis. Morrissey’s complex, literate lyrics combined themes about ordinary people with mordant humour. In 2014 and 2015, they were nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

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